Breadcrumbs and Witches: Got Any More Ideas?
Hi, y’all! I’m getting ready to present a speech (or two) at the Houston Writer’s Guild conference this weekend, and this week I’ve been putting the finishing touches *coughwritingtheentirethingcough* on my “keynote” speech. I’m talking about the journey of the debut writer (because, duh, right?) and I’m comparing it to all sorts of gruesome and macabre fairy tales. Inspired, I know.
What I was hoping YOU could help me with is this: what small piece of advice (let’s call it a breadcrumb) do you wish you’d had when you first started writing? I would love to have a few of these to flash up on the powerpoint (alongside the usual subliminal pictures of chocolate and hot guys) that didn’t all fall out of my own rotting brain.
So, what do you say? Do you have any breadcrumbs for our new writers, to help keep them on the path?
Or any warnings about witches?
Who are the witches in your writing life? My guess is, if you’ve been writing for a while, you won’t name editors and agents… but you might come up with some ideas I could steal and use this weekend.
Thanks, friends! I love stealing from you all. 🙂
Note: The winner of my ARC giveaway on Cynsations was Jaclyn Dolamore! YES, this Jaclyn Dolamore!!! I’m so excited – I love her writing, and now she’s going to read mine. *faints* Thanks to everyone else for commenting. I’ll *probably* have a Goodreads giveaway next month… 🙂
04/11/2012 at 11:55 am
Witches of writing, for me, all involve time management. Because writing is hard work (despite popular belief), and takes discipline. Which can be a real…witch.
I’m sure your speech will be amazing. I loved hearing you speak at the Houston conference last year!
04/15/2012 at 4:57 pm
Wish I could have had lunch with you this year! It was a great conference. I made sure I emphasized time management (there may have been a quip about choosing between writing and watching Toddlers and Tiaras in there somewhere…) Thanks!
04/12/2012 at 10:28 am
I have two bread crumbs (and, can I just add, Hansel and Gretel is one of the most disturbing fairy tales). Writing is about more than writing. It also involves a lot of editing. Seems straightforward, but I know I always just assumed my writing would be amazing from the get go. Until I realized that wasn’t the way it works, I found myself getting very easily overwhelmed when something didn’t go as I planned.
And that leads me to my second bread crumb. Not all of your ideas will be amazing. But it takes the less than amazing ideas to get you to the amazing ones.
Good luck with your speech.
04/15/2012 at 4:56 pm
Megan, thank you! I LOVE disturbing fairy tales, and your comments are right on the money. Editing and being able to work until you get to your best ideas/writing… very important skills, those.
04/15/2012 at 11:57 am
I LOVED your talk. So funny. And disturbing (but in a good way). I just threw your name onto my blog. Hope you don’t mind.
And I just want to say – I love that you are so energetic.
04/15/2012 at 4:54 pm
Rebecca, what a lovely blog post! Thank you for sharing your experiences… and the darling baby pictures! There you go again, hogging the baby cuteness. 🙂 I’ll be in touch before my Houston signing – lunch, maybe? 🙂
04/15/2012 at 4:20 pm
N,
Fantastic presentation. This was the first conference I left with more useful information/inspiration than doubt/anxiety. You absolutely hit it out of the park with the breadcrumbs. Those moments of breakthrough, of nailing the phrasing or even harder, the emotion (I’m not grown enough to express) is $$. Your dispatches from the front helped me and others more than you’ll ever know.
In short, (yeah, I know, too late) thank you. It was a great pleasure to meet you and a blessing to hear of your experiences. You now have an Irish uncle in Houston who owes you a solid. May God bless you in all your endeavors.
E.
04/15/2012 at 4:53 pm
Thank you so much, E! I’m delighted my presentation – and the whole conference – gave you some tools to keep on going. Good luck with your writing, and thanks for stopping by.I’ll look for you next year!